


forever's just an omen

by Julx3tte



Series: you can sail on thin ice long as i can too [2]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Complicated Relationships, F/M, Fluff, Romance, going to war has a lot of paperwork, ingrid asks sylvain to help with paperwork, there are consequences
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-16
Updated: 2020-05-16
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:48:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24211636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Julx3tte/pseuds/Julx3tte
Summary: ingrid loves the thrill of battle. the logistics that accompany it, however, are not one of finer points she enjoys
Relationships: Ingrid Brandl Galatea/Sylvain Jose Gautier
Series: you can sail on thin ice long as i can too [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1747528
Comments: 4
Kudos: 25





	forever's just an omen

Ingrid hated logistics.

For all the glory that war was supposed to bring, being a commander was incredibly mundane. 

Sure the battles sometimes went on for days, filled unbroken sequences of life and death situations and split second decision making. But war was waged over months and years, and most days were filled with travel or… logistics.

Combat maneuvers were one thing. It was a thrill to lead a winged battalion through exercises and drills, executing the tactics she and the other commanders drew out on rolls of parchment and whiteboards to perfection. 

Just thinking about it sent a shiver through Ingrid’s spine.

It was another kind of thrill after the victory when she’d drink and celebrate with her soldiers and the rest of the Lions.

But to lead them through… she could barely even remember the form she was reading. Groaning, Ingrid checked the top of the stack in front of her again to remind herself - daily field rationing and pegasus maintenance procedures. It was maddening.

Sure there were a few logistics officers in charge for the bulk of resource distribution, but as a commander she was still responsible for signing off on everything. Everything.

It took an hour to get through the hand-sized stack on her makeshift desk. She walked outside to stretch and give her eyes a break, but as soon as she opened the tent, a squire turned the corner with a stack of paper double the one she’d just put in the outbox.

She smiled sheepishly as the squire put the stack on her desk. 

Maybe Sylvain was already done with his….

* * *

If nothing matched the thrill of flying through the air, watching Sylvain lead a strategy session was the next best thing. He had a way of getting everyone a little too overexcited and sticking in the details in between. A performance.

More impressive was how he managed to convince three of his officers to stay behind and help him finish their paperwork. With four people making decisions it took a fraction of the time.

Ingrid waited until they were done before approaching. She gave a little hop to her step.

“Do mine too,” she asked up front.

Sylvain feigned shock. “Not what I expected to hear from you today, but if you want…”

As he sauntered up, Ingrid thrust a stack of papers at him. “I meant my paperwork.”

“Pfft. Oh wow you have a lot more than I do.”

“That’s why I need the help.”

“I’ll make you a deal. I’ll help train your officers to be more useful. But in exchange…”

Sylvain’s eyes lit up, but Ingrid, well versed in the art of negotiating with her childhood idiot, cut him off.

“I’ll do the thing that you asked me for.”

Sylvian froze. She could tell because his eyes were searching around the room while his body recoiled back. It was like he wasn’t sure he was living in the same reality his ears had heard.

Ingrid pressed her advantage. She closed the gap between them, tiptoed up, and kissed him behind the ear.

For the next week, Sylvain was a regular fixture at Ingrid’s post-strategy sessions, drilling the Galatea Knights in the fine art of paperwork.

* * *

With such a small camp, however, no action goes unmentioned.

Knights from Galatea and Gautier always had a sort of rivalry. If asked, they would describe it as a healthy protectiveness over their respective young Lords (Ingrid had refused the title of Lady. She was a knight, and a better one than anyone else from the region, and easily earned the honorific).

Of course, most of them had been around long enough to know the famed history between the two: Sylvain’s storied dating career, Ingrid’s protectiveness over Felix and Sylvain both, and their multiple disagreements about the morals of philandry. 

They each let a lot slide, but typically had lines neither side crossed. Unfortunately, one of the younger Galatean squires, full of pride and bravado (and unfortunate experience - his own cousin was one of Sylvain’s failed trysts), said something along the lines of Sylvain being  _ too spent to sire any child of value _ in earshot of Gautier knights passing by to assist.

Rumors spread, and for those that too recently remembered Miklan’s betrayal and death, the comment stung particularly deep. The more senior Gautier officers warned their Galatean compatriots to tone it down before things got too heated.

But too soon, things came to a boil.

Ingrid and Sylvain rushed to the edge of the camp just before knights from both sides began fistcuffs, breaking the crowd apart with combat arts.

In front of everyone, Ingrid bowed and apologized for the misunderstandings. Her captains knew what she was calling for. Anyone involved was now in the doghouse, forced to fly at the most uninteresting parts of the battle formation (and rotating stable duty for the rest of the campaign, or until her ire was sufficiently satisfied).

For the Gautier knights, it was an incredible surprise. The two lords had grown up together, and certainly Ingrid had helped Sylvain out of some nasty scuffles here and there, but such a public gesture signalled a different kind of help.

Rumors spread again that the two houses were bound closer than they would have thought. By the time they reached Felix and the other Lions, morale in the camp was at a fever’s pitch.

* * *

“They want to know if we’re, uh, in the process of courting,” Sylvain said, hands fidgeting around some yet-unburnt kindling he’d found by the fire. 

Ingrid could tell he was anxious. He’d left the bed with furs still wrapped around his neck as soon as she’d gone to boil the contraceptive herbs.

What he didn’t say was more damning than what he did.  _ Were they? _

All these months and they still hadn’t put any words between them. Not really, anyway, save for a few conversations about what boundaries  _ not _ to cross. Keeping things secret wasn’t one of those. They weren’t hiding anything when there was nothing to say.

Not that she liked it either. But it was more than complicated.

Ingrid came to sit behind Sylvain, stealing some of the warmth of the furs and wrapping her arms around his torso.

“Are we?” she asked.

Sylvain, shocked, snapped to meet her eyes. 

She’d already stood up for him in public, she may as well stand up for them in private too.

“It’s… complicated. If it doesn’t…” Sylvain trailed off, shivering despite her body pressing on his back. “It’s risky.”

“Yeah.” 

“There’s… a lot to work out.” 

“Yeah.” Ingrid could see his mind calculating. What to tell the soldiers. Felix. The Lions. The professor. When to do what, and how to do it. 

“A lot of questions.”

“Logistics,” she said, setting her chin on his shoulder.

“Yeah.”

“I hate logistics,” Ingrid mumbled.

“Yeah.”

**Author's Note:**

> between all the kdrama i'm binge watching, i'm starting to write again. fear not jily friends, i'm working my way there. love, jul


End file.
